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Tricks to Boost Your Likability

Tricks to Boost Your Likability

Likability is a powerful force to get prospects and your peers to trust you more. Deceit isn’t behind the following tricks to make you more likable, recently featured at Forbes.com, but a few traits to keep in mind that can unconsciously influence others to see you in a new light. Here are a few:

1. Use silence to your advantage.

“When you ask someone a question and they’re slow to respond, don’t feel pressure to move the conversation forward,” Forbes columnist Travis Bradberry notes. “Remaining silent plays to your advantage. Moments of silence make people feel as though they should speak, especially when the ball is in their court.” Silence can be a golden tool in negotiations and when in difficult conversations.

2. Open hands and open palms opens hearts.

An open-palm gesture – rather than pointing — conveys trust and can even make others find you more friendly and likable.

3. Nod your head during a conversation.

“Nodding your head during a conversation or when asking a question makes the other person more likely to agree with what you’re saying,” Bradberry notes. People unconsciously mirror others’ body language around them so when you nod, you convey what you’re saying is true and desirable – others will be more inclined to agree.

4. Notice other people’s feet.

“If [the person’s] feet are aimed at you, he’s interested and listening to what you’re saying, but if his feet point away from you, he’s most likely disinterested and mentally checked out,” Bradberry notes.

5. When groups laugh, notice who makes eye contact with whom. When a group of people laugh, each member of the group won’t be able to help but make eye contact with the person whom they feel closest to, Bradberry says. “This trick can … tell you which members of your team are bonding and learning to trust one another,” Bradberry writes. “Of course, you’ll learn a lot about how you feel about other people just by paying attention to whom you make eye contact with.”

6. Show some excitement.

Again, people tend to mirror the behavior of those around them. “If you show excitement when you see someone, they naturally mirror that excitement back at you,” Bradberry writes. “It’s an easy way to make a strong first impression and to get people to like you.